When Snow Falls
by GetWellHarley
Summary: Alice envisions the new girl in Forks, the world-weary Bella, as the mate of Caius Volturi, and the Cullens are hired to take and prepare Bella for when Caius comes for her. All Bella wants is to get over her past and get through life like any normal teenager, but after meeting the Cullen family she knows her life will never be the same. BellaxCaius Family!Cullens Family!Volturi
1. Chapter 1

**A new story prompt to help me get back into the writing swing. Hope you guys will want more.**

**WARNINGS: Possible angst, gore, dark content, language, and emotional triggers.**

**You have been warned.**

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Prologue

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**_"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." - Edgar Allan Poe_**

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**Bella Swan**

There was a certain silence between my mother and I as she drove us to the airport. Phil had stayed behind to pack more of their things so that they could leave for Florida at the end of the week. Truthfully, I was glad. I was getting tired of his concerned stare and the constant questions of whether I was alright or not. Having to be with my mother was enough, I didn't need the extra hovering.

"Bells, you know you don't have to do this."

I could barely contain the sigh that threatened to leave me. I had known it was coming soon, infact I'd made a bet with myself to see how long it would take her to crack. Looks like I owed myself five bucks, because she'd cracked ten minutes earlier then I'd first guessed that she would've.

"Re-...mom, I don't want to go to Florida," I retaliated, using the same line I'd repeated like a broken record for the last couple of months. Renee had been at this for a while, if you couldn't tell. It was just like my mother to be persistent to the very last second, minutes before she was about to send me off to live with my father. "Besides, I need to spend some more time with Charlie before I graduate. I haven't seen him in years."

The guilty look on her face was enough to tell me that I'd one my argument once again. I didn't feel bad about using it against her, because even I knew that it was her fault that I hadn't got to spend much time with my father. Renee was a very clingy woman. When she'd noticed how much I'd loved visiting my dad in Summers, she'd put a stop to it, saying the cost of flying me out and back was unnecessarily high cost for her and that was that. I also had a sneaking suspicious that she'd told my father that it was me that had put a stop to the visits, which was completely untrue and another level of guilt to add to her growing pile.

We'd parked out in front of the busy airport, but neither of us had moved. I knew that my mother wasn't yet done trying to change my mind.

She reached over, placing her hand on my knee. "Bella, what happened this Summer, you shouldn't let it get to you-"

I recoiled from her touch and her words, opening the passenger door and leaving the car in a storm. I heard her sigh of disappointment, but buried any feelings I may of felt by beginning to pull out some of my luggage. My silence was hard on her, I knew, because for most of my life she and I always talked to each other. She talked to me about all her hobbies and life experiences, while I would talk out my teenage troubles to her. But this wasn't the case this time.

My two bags in hand and over my shoulder, I waited for her to get over her sadness and get out of the car.

I only had to wait a couple seconds, and turned away from the fake smile plastered on my mother's face.

Forks, here I come.

**Alice Cullen**

It was the late afternoon, a couple hours after school had let out, when it happened.

Everyone had been home at the time. Esme was upstairs, rearranging some of the new furniture she'd purchased and Carlisle was in his study filing some papers he'd brought home from work. Rosalie and Emmett were out in the garage, working on their cars together with the radio turned up. Edward was trying to drown out the classic rock floating in from the garage by playing some tunes he'd recently written on his piano. Jasper and I were outside, Jasper reading a book as I sketched some designs in my drawing pad.

A normal, lazy day for us Cullens. It wasn't uncommon for us to find some peace apart. We were a family for all intents and purposes, and all familys needed space. Any other day might've called for some kind of family trip or outing, but everyone was perfectly happy in their own little bubble.

The day was perfect outside, as well.

Thought Forks, Washington was forever under a veil of dark clouds and nearly always under rainfall of varying intensities, today was mild. The clouds were light, but still covering the skies. A cool wind was blowing in from the West, but there was no rain. A perfect day for myself to sit outside and draw.

Just as I was sketching the curve of the shoulder in my clothing design, a vision hit me. My body gave a slightly jolt, something that only happened when my vision was especially immersive and intense. Jasper, who I'd been curled into, straightened up and had his hands on my shoulders to keep me steady. I couldn't feel him, however, because I was somewhere else entirely. In my head, I could see a future scenario building around me piece by piece.

The pencil in my hand nearly snapped under the pressure of my tense hand as I began to unconsciously draw what I was seeing. I drew right over the sketch I had been working on for almost two weeks.

My hand was working so hard that I was nearly ripping into the paper with my pencil, my vision determined to have this moment forever etched into both my mind and the paper. The contents of this sketch was something significant, I knew, for there were no choices to this vision. Various small choices would still lead to this event, and any drastic measures of avoiding it led to dark outcomes that I couldn't even make. All I knew was that this was meant to happen, and if it didn't it could mean horrible things in the future.

We had to meet her.

Her.

Gasping as though I actually needed air, I surfaced from my vision. Jasper's arms were around me, and our family was standing around were looking at me in slight concern, but also closely inspecting the sketch pad sitting on my lap.

I looked down and saw the face of a girl staring back up at me. She had a delicate, heart shaped face with attractive features. The biggest appeal to her face was her big, doe-like eyes. Her hair was waved, falling down to her armpits. She had a slender neck and feminine shoulders, with gentle curves in her bosom and hips. She was clad in a flannel jacket and jeans, plain to the rest of her.

"Who is she?" Emmett asked, breaking the silence.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, but my guess is that we will be meeting her soon."

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**Small prologue, I will work on updating the first chapter tomorrow or the day after.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Harley: First real chapter. Hope everyone enjoys.**

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Chapter 1

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_**"Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears." -Edgar Allan Poe**_

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**Bella Swan**

Forks was like I had always remembered. Dark, cold, and rainy.

It was different this time, however. This time, I liked it. I needed the change.

I liked Forks, even though the constant rain wasn't something I was a big fan of. If this had been a few months ago, I probably would've missed Phoenix. But after the Summer I no longer could think of it without unwanted memories attached and I would only be able to miss what it used to be to me, not what it currently was. Phoenix as it was, was dead to me. I needed Forks, I needed the change, and I needed to be away from my mother.

Seeing my dad for the first time in years was a bit overwhelming. He looked just like he always had, but I could see the extra years in his face.

Charlie had been standing their awkwardly, clad in his full police uniform and searching the crowds of people. One could definitely tell that he and I were father and daughter. While I had my mother's face, I had his eyes and hair color. I was actually very proud to take after my dad instead of my mother. Over the few years of my life my mother had started a steady downfall in my eyes. I couldn't hold her in the same light anymore.

My father and I had kept in contact over email. I learned a lot about him and Forks, which I didn't mind. It was enough to help me envision the little things I had grown to miss about it over the years. While Forks had many sights I could've missed seeing, it was the things you could smell there that I missed the most. I missed the smell of Charlie's house, the smell of wet, earthy ground, the smell of fresh out of the oven cookies, the smell of coffee and pie in the town diner, and the smell of the ocean at La Push. It been so long since I'd smelled any of that, that most of them were faded memories.

I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed up until I had my arms thrown around him a hug. He greeted my in his own Charlie-like way and hugged me back. I almost wanted to start crying right there, but I knew that it wasn't a good idea. I pushed the tears back and slipped away from him, offering the best smile I could.

Charlie insisted on carrying my two bags to the police cruiser for me.

There had been a small string of conversation between us as we left the airport and headed to Forks, my new home. It was easier to talk with Charlie, I noticed, then it ever had been with Renee. I could barely take looking my mother in the eyes, much less having a pleasant conversation with her. Charlie was a bit awkward, but I just pegged it down to him being himself. I was glad to be able to see him again, and even more glad that my mother had even accepted my moving away.

Sighing softly, I folded my last pair of jeans and put them away inside the oak dresser Charlie had purchased for me. He had bought almost new everything for my room. A new, bigger bed with pale purple sheets and dark purple comforter. A dresser for my clothes, and a desk, along with a slightly older desk top computer for any school work I would need to do.

I was thankful to have a parent like Charlie. Though there was an absent of him in my life, that hadn't been his fault. I could see that he was trying hard to make up for something that hadn't been in his control, and even though it wasn't necessary I appreciated his effort. To be honest, all I wanted out of him was a place to stay and go to school.

Walking over to the window, I looked out into the front yard and street below. It felt strange to think that this would be normal. This was my home now, and soon I would wake up to see this every single morning. It was more full of life then Phoenix. Phoenix didn't have as much color as Forks had, and that was what made the rain a tolerable thing. If daily rain could bring such vibrant color to the grass and trees, then it was worth it. The color was a change I welcomed openly.

The splash of red poking out in my view made a smile cross my lips. Earlier, Charlie and my reunion had been interrupted by two very familiar faces.

Jacob Black had grown from that gangly, gap-toothed boy he had once been and Billy Black had only seemed to have grown wiser in the face. This time, however, he was restrained to a wheel chair. Both had the Quileute tan and black head of hair, and Jacob resembled what his father might've looked like in his younger years. I remember Jacob as one of the La Push boys I used to play with during the Summers, before my mother put a stop to my visits. I also remembered Billy as the man I'd considered a second dad of my childhood.

Both had stopped by to deliver a monster of a truck, Charlie's welcome home present to me. Billy had been trying to sell it for a while, and Charlie decided to take it off his hands as a present to me so that I wouldn't have to walk or ride the bus to the high school. I had been floored by such a gift. I'd tried to refuse and convince him to take the truck for himself, but he insisted.

The truck was built like a tank, old but well preserved. It roared like a tiger when driven, but was a reliable vehicle that would last me for a while. It would be a nice thing to have for my last couple of years in high school.

I left my room after fixing a few of my things up and descended the stairs to the first floor. Charlie was in the kitchen doorway, a takeout pamphlet in one hand and the home phone in the other.

My brows drew together. "Dad?"

Charlie jumped, obviously not hearing me come down the stairs. "Jeeze, Bells."

"Sorry," I said with a small laugh.

He smiled. "No problem, kiddo. I just got to get used to having another person in the house. Do you still like sausage pizza like you used to?"

I was a bit surprised he had remembered what pizza I had liked. Then again, Charlie had always been more attuned to that then my mother had been. She always had to ask me little things like that. I was pretty lucky if she remembered my birthday or my favorite color on a good day.

"Why don't I cook something for us instead?" I asked, walking around him to open the cupboards and see what he had for me to cook.

Charlie cleared his throat in embarrassment as I opened the near empty cupboards.

I face him with raised brows.

"Trip to the store?" He asked weakly, tucking the pamphlet away.

**Caius Volturi**

In the length of my long life, I have discovered that there are a few things in this world that are extremely rare to come by. I could fill a whole book of things that not everyone got to see or experience, or of things that rarely ever last. So many things, a few that some may think are insignificant but to others are sacred. These things we have placed on the highest pedestal could come crumbling down due to a hairline fracture in the marble and shatter upon impact with the cold, unforgiving ground.

Things such as love, trust, and loyalty would fall into this category.

Though this pedestal had been weathering down for quite some time, I had truly not expected it to fall down this violently. Nor had I expected this to be the first one to crack and tumble. Though I do suppose that most structures eventually crumble down in time. At least those that are built upon falsities and fraud do. Sometimes it's a bit bittersweet watching them fall, but better to watch them from afar then get caught inside of the collapse.

How I loathe being taken for a fool.

As my wife's crimson, tear-filled gaze stared up at me, pleading, begging, I could think of nothing other than falling pillars and the waste of all the time I had spent by spending part of my life with her.

She was kneeled at my feet like the traitorous dog she was, not begging for her life in words but in facial pleas. She knew that if she spoke out loud she would face a worse punishment at my hand. I had no desire to listen to her chirping any longer, not after the injustice she had been committing. She could summon tears to her eyes all she wanted; she knew what she had done wrong and she knew why I would never allow her to live.

How I loathe those who fruitlessly beg, almost as much as I loathe those who betray my trust.

She fought a flinch when I placed my open palm on top of her golden head. Shivers of fear passed underneath my palm as I caressed the golden curls of her hair. As I ran my fingers through the strands, the spiral curls tangled and clung to each appendage before letting go with a soft bounce. I watched as the color of the sun pooled between my fingers, remembering all the times I'd wrapped them in my grasp in a moment of passion.

It was strange how such a beautiful woman could be a lying viper hiding in the shadows the whole time. She had us all fooled, and that made my blood boil even more fierce.

Not only had she infiltrated us perfectly, she'd weaseled her way into my bed and partially into my heart. She tricked me into putting her on that pedestal, but it was her own carelessness that was bringing her back to the dirt where she belonged. She got too careless, too comfortable. All it took was one accidental brush against Aro's skin on the wrong day, and she was found out.

I almost hadn't believed Aro when he'd called her out on her betrayle, but the second she'd been found out the snake burst into sobs and pleas for the preservation of her life. We'd had her thrown into the dungeon under the ever-loving care of Jane while we sorted out what Aro had witnessed in the depths of her mind.

Athendora had been hired many years ago to become one of us, by the Romanians. She'd be able to avoid Aro whilst under the gift of one of their Coven, who was a underdeveloped shield that could only block certain thoughts from mind readers and other mental attacks. She'd been careful about choosing personal days for herself. We'd all believed she'd just been going out and shopping within Volterra, when in reality she was visiting this vampire to have him cleanse any of her traitorous thoughts from her head.

On her way out of visit him, however, she was intercepted by Aro. In the midst of their chat, she had been trying to avoid touching him in any way and Aro had noticed. He brushed her hand before she could even register that what he was doing, and after that her whole ploy had been exposed.

For hundreds of years she had been feeding information about our coven to the Romanians.

I had to admit, she had to be good at what she did to have fooled us for so long.

How I loathed seeing a good talent go to waste.

My hands slipped from her hair to ghost along the edges of her cheek and jaw. Shivers went down her spine, but it was not in the least romantic. To any that may have looked in on this, it may have seemed almost sensual, if not forgiving. But those who knew me, those who knew my wrath, knew that this was nothing close to romantic and that I was not a forgiving person.

Just as my pointer finger gently grazed the underside of her chin, her lip trembled. I knew that it would not be long.

"C-Caius, please, I...," her broken voice trailed off as she tried to collect herself in the midst of her fear.

I knew it wouldn't take much to break her. Just the threat of death had her beginning to talk.

But, as I said before, I had no patience to hear her beg for her life.

"Shhh," I hissed softly, pressing my finger into the soft, pouting flesh of her lips. "Tell us what you know, and we might consider striking up an agreement about letting you go."

You would think she would have been smarted after being a partner in my bed for so many years. She sang like a pretty, little broken bird. Invasion plans, future infiltration, and battle tactics spilled from her mouth as easily as her lies had. I knew they were the truth, for she was much to horror struck to let another lie pass in my presence. Not when she believed that she was so close to a possible escape. She gave and gave until she could give no more, and even then I managed to squeeze a few more useless bits from her.

"I have t-told you everything!" she cried, venom tears that would never fall glossing over her eyes. "Please, release me as you said you would."

"How foolish you are," I murmured with a dark grin, watching as the last bit of hope in her eyes died out.

The realization that her death had been a positive from the beginning of the whole interrogation. She cried, pleaded, and begged. Her cries may have once made my heart wrench but now all they did was make it soar.

Seeing the enjoyment on my face, the little bird changed her tune. She began to throw insults and slander, promises that her death would be avenged.

Eyes flashing, I took her by the throat and held her against the stone wall to silence her unnecessary noise. The wall cracked beneath my strength, and I pushed her harder just to see it break more. "See here, my dear Athendora. I wish I could say that I'll miss you, but the words just don't taste right. Not to your disgusting face."

A choked sob escaped from her, and I allowed her just enough air to speak her last words. "You will never find another like me, Caius. A man as cruel as you will never find love. Wallow in the bitterness and choke on the loneliness, because it is all that you will ever have."

How I loathed the truth.

Shattering porcelain and grinding metal could be heard throughout the room, and probably the rest of the castle as well.

I tore her apart slowly. I pulled off each limb as slowly as I could, burning the open wounds with my venom. Once I was finished with that, I began to pry her head from her shoulders. The metallic screech that came from it burned my sensitive ears, but the satisfaction from it made it sweet enough to be labeled one of the best songs I'd ever heard.

Once I stepped away from her dismembered body, I signaled to the two shadowed figures standing in corner.

Demetri and Felix stepped forward obediently, their faces hidden beneath their hoods. Demetri held out an unlit torch to Felix, who was about to light it with a small match in his hand.

"Stop," I hissed.

The two looked at me in surprise, but did as I said and stopped just second before lighting the torch.

I held my hand out towards Felix, signaling for him to hand me the match. He did so, realization lighting up his and Demetri's faces.

Pinching the small stick between my thumb and pointer finger, I twirled it back and forth slowly. The small flame danced to the movement, flicking against the shredded remains of my ex-wife's porcelain body. Her decapitated head was facing me, and I could see the flame flickering in her frightened eyes.

Still alive, but unable to scream due to the fact that he vocal chords were ripped, Athendora was only able to watch as I used the small match to light several pieces of her body on fire. The flame was enough to catch them on fire, but small enough to ensure that she would suffer a long, slow burning death.

"If any of the pieces go out, light them back up with a match," I ordered the two in their respective corners. "When just her ashes remain, prepare them for the urn we are sending out to the Romanians."

The two nodded. "Yes, Master."

Taking one last look at Athendora's burning corpse, I left the cell. I could hear the screams of Jane's victim down the hall echoing through the stone hall, becoming quieter and quieter as I walked towards the stairs that would bring me back up into the castle. Had I taken any longer, I would've ended up missing the first wave of tourists Heidi was bringing in.

How I loathed missing a meal.

**Bella Swan**

After seeing that Charlie had almost nothing that I could make, aside from pre-made dinners and TV dinners, I took Charlie up on his offer to go to the grocery store. It couldn't have been healthy for Charlie to be eating like this for so long, and I was too afraid of the answer to ask him if he ever got a decent meal in him.

Fork's Local Grocery Mart was a decent size for the amount of people who lived there, I noticed as we pulled into the parking lot. I had a growing list of groceries in my lap, questions Charlie on the things he did have in the house and whether or not they were properly up to date. As I'd guessed, some of the stuff he actually did have would probably cause food poisoning.

Charlie didn't seem to mind when he saw how large the list was growing, in fact he almost seemed happy.

I didn't know how to feel about this exactly. It was something that had bothered me ever since we left in the cruiser and even as we walked through the store filling our cart to the brim with food. Living with Renee, I was used to taking care of my parents instead of having it the other way around. While I knew Charlie wouldn't be as dependent as Renee was, I guess I had just gotten my hopes up in having someone provide for me instead of the other way around.

A sudden jolt and the handlebar of the cart jabbing me in the stomach, nearly sending me backwards, startled me from my thoughts.

I saw that I had accidently ran into another woman's cart.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry," I said, embarrassment coloring my face. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

Internally, I was cursing myself for my clumsiness. Of course the second my father strays away from the cart to go find some bread, I managed to crash into someone. It was just like me to cause such an embarrassing scene on my first day of moving.

The woman turned towards me, and I was instantly stunned into silence. She was absolutely beautiful. Her skin was as pale as snow and she had slightly dark circles under her eyes, but it didn't draw away from her beauty. She had a graceful, motherly face framed by wavy caramel locks. Her eyes were a bright, golden caramel. A startling, unnatural color that popper out against her smooth, flawless skin. I instantly felt inferior to her. She was obviously in her early twenties.

"It's alright, dear. Are you alright?" she asked softly, concern shining in her eyes.

I realized that I was staring quite obviously and, mortified, I quickly nodded my head. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I'm really sorry, I'm not the most graceful person around."

A smile touched her face, and I could see the whole store almost light up. "It's okay, no harm done. Are you sure you're okay?" she asked again, noticing that there was a certain look to my face.

Inside, I was thinking to myself that this was the face my mother was supposed to have. Not this woman's face, literally, but the motherly look of concern she wore towards a stranger like myself. My whole life I'd hoped for my mom to have more concern and interest in me, sadly it came too late and now she was the last person I wanted from. It was sad that the look I'd always wanted to have pointed at me was from a stranger, and just a little too late.

A hand, so cold that I could feel the temperature sink in through the layer of my jacket and my long sleeved shirt, touched my shoulder. I jolted like a startled fawn, blinking in surprise to see that I was still in the supermarket, still staring at this woman. "Um, could you repeat that?" I asked stupidly.

The woman was looking at me in slight concern, but had removed her hand from my shoulder. "Are you sure you're alright, you looked a little lost for a second, sweety?"

"Yeah, sorry, I was thinking of something," I admitted with slightly guilt.

She smiled. "It's alright, we all get a little lost in our thoughts some days, don't we? I'm Esme Cullen. I haven't noticed you around before."

Esme. That was a name I'd never heard outside of older novels. It suited her, I thought to myself.

"I'm Bella Swan," I said, offering my hand for a handshake.

I wanted to see if the woman was as cold as I thought it had been. It had been startlingly cold the first time she'd touched me, and the first time I felt it I had still been deep in my thoughts and had barely registered it. She shook my hand, and I noted that, yes, she definitely was that cold. I felt like it would be too rude to make a comment on it, especially after I'd nearly ran her over with my cart.

"You're the chief's daughter?" she asked with a kind smile.

I had realized early on that in this small town, this was going to be my title until everyone got the hang of my name.

"Yes, she is," I heard my father's gruff voice say as he came up from behind us.

He placed a hand on my shoulder as he leaned forward and put two loaves of bread into our cart. "Hello, Mrs. Cullen, how have you and your family been?"

Esme smiled at my father. "We've been doing very well, thank you Chief Swan."

"Call me Charlie," my dad said, pink coloring his cheeks and ears. "After that miracle your husband preformed, there's no need to call me Chief."

I raised an eyebrow at my father, wondering what miracle he was talking about and how this woman's husband made it happen. One look told me that I would get to hear the story later, so I let it go. Esme and Charlie made a little more small talk, even joking a little bit about my nearly running Esme over.

"Yeah, Bells has always been a little clumsy, even when she was small," I heard Charlie boast.

Blushing, I found the laces of my converse a little more interesting.

Hearing a small intake of breath, however, I looked back up. Esme was looking at me strangely, It was almost like I'd suddenly done something offensive, like she smelled something coming from me that she wasn't pleased with. Her whole body was completely stiff, her hands gripping the rail of her cart. Upon looking closer, however, I also noticed that her eyes weren't looking so golden anymore. Instead they were nearly the same deep, caramel color that her hair had.

I wanted to blame it on the lighting, but we hadn't moved since we'd all started talking.

"Excuse me, please, I just realized I have something I urgently have to get to at home," Esme said, her motherly voice tight with some sort of effort.

Charlie and I watched, confused, as she began to push her cart away from us at a rather quick pace. Brushing a hand through my hair. I sniffed at myself subtly. The smell of my shampoo was still lingering in my hair, and I knew that I'd given myself a couple spritz of perfume before I'd left the house.

Strange. Definitely strange.

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**Here we go, a glimpse at Bella's new life with Charlie and Caius's rather crappy love life.**

**Please drop a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Harley: I'm happy so many of you liked the first couple of chapters.**

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Chapter 3

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_**"Even though the future seems far away, it is actually beginning right now." -Mattie Stepanek**_

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**Bella Swan**

After the small incident in the grocery story, my dad and I left. He filled me in on the few details I had seemed to be missing in his and Esme Cullen's conversation.

The 'miracle' her husband had preformed was saving the life of one of Charlie's deputies, after he had gotten into a car accident and nearly died of his severe injuries. Her husband, Carlisle Cullen, however, preformed a quick and careful surgery that saved the man's life.

I could see the gratitude shining in Charlie's eyes as he spoke of it, and I knew that he had a lot of respect for this Carlisle person. I could see why, too. Who wouldn't be grateful to someone who saved a precious life that had almost been unfairly taken? The story hit home with me a little, and I tried my hardest to block out some of the harder memories of Phoenix that were trying to resurface. I could only wonder what things could've been like if Carlisle Cullen had lived in Phoenix instead, and if he could have preformed such a miracle there as well.

Charlie began to fill me in on the Cullens. Apparently, they had just moved in a year ago. They were much more wealthy then any other Fork's inhabitant, and they did tend to show it off. He said they all wore nice clothing and fast, flashy vehicles that no one from around here would ever be able to afford even if they'd worked their whole lives. He admitted that this caused a little resentment from some of the other people around Forks, but after stating that he proceeded to go back into his rant about how people should be thankful that we had Dr. Cullen as a doctor, even if his family was a little flashy.

I listened to this until we got home and subject changed. We chatted about small things here and there, Charlie watching from the kitchen table as I prepared a lasagna dish. I remembered that this was one of his favorite dishes, something he had told me in one of his emails a long time ago. I figured he deserved it, a little something from me to show him how much I appreciated him taking me in on such short notice.

It took dinner a while to cook, so I got to spend a little more time with my father. We began talking about things that had happened over the years. He tried to pick into the subject of Phoenix and why I moved in with him, but I quickly diverted the conversation. I didn't want to talk about Phoenix just yet, and I certainly didn't want to talk about my mother.

Any who entered Charlie's house could tell that he was still hung up on the past. He still had pictures of him, Renee, and I before the divorce handing up around his house. It made me feel a bit bitter, knowing that mom threw away what they had quite easily. I don't believe Renee ever loved Charlie, just loved the idea of loving him. She loved the idea of being a constant stay at home mom who took care of everything at home for her working husband, but she could never be a good wife or a good mother. She never grew up and always needed someone to take care of her, and that was the only reason she could stay in a relationship with someone much younger then her like Phil. His sporadic job kept her from flying coop.

The night ended relitivly well. We ate and Charlie went to watch some TV. I retreated to my room and found myself staring around in contemplation. Usually there was things to be done, even at this hour. Renee would've left out one of her projects or the bills had come in needing paid, and I would have to take care of it. But here, at Charlie's, the only thing I had to do was cook and do some of the chores he had split with me.

It was odd having a parent that would take care of most things for me. Though he was helpless at cooking, I knew by the look of shock on Charlie's face when I'd asked him earlier in the day if he would need me to take care of bills, Charlie wasn't as inept as Renee. He could take care of himself for the most part and that was like breathing my first breath of fresh air of my whole seventeen years of life.

I got onto the computer Charlie had gotten me and checked my email. There was only one from Renee. I trashed it, not even bothering to read it, and then decided to get comfortable in bed with a book to read a little before I went to bed. I brushed my teeth, changed into an old t-shirt and pajama bottoms, before curling up under the covers with a book in my hands. It felt nice to not have to worry about what bills needed paid or anything like that.

Things were different, but I liked it.

* * *

_Blinding heat._

_Light weight, airless, like a feather._

_Crash._

_Suddenly heavy._

_Pain, pain, __**pain**__._

_There's copper in my mouth... am I bleeding? Where?_

_Someone, help._

_Where am I?_

_Where are they?_

_Are they okay?_

_They won't answer..._

_I hear sirens. Red, blue, red, blue, red, blue..._

_Shouting. I hear someone..._

_Please, help me!_

* * *

**Alice Cullen**

All day I had been on edge. Actually, I have been on edge since Jasper and I got home last night from hunting. We come to a rather shaken Esme and a worried family. Seems Esme had bumped into the girl I had drawn in my sketch pad a few days ago. She said that her name was Bella Swan and she was the daughter of the police chief of Forks. She had moved here and was going to start going to school with the rest of us.

From what Esme had been saying, it seemed like there had been nothing wrong or out of the ordinary. Then Esme explained that for most of the conversation, she had been holding her breath and making it look like she was breathing. As a vampire she obviously didn't need the air, it just made a little uncomfortable pressure in the chest until we did take a breath. It actually had caught Esme off guard when the girl suddenly ran into her, and out of instinct she had drew in her breath. But, towards the end of her interaction with Bella and her father, Esme took a breath in and got her first smell of the girl.

She smelled heavenly, to be perfectly honest. Strawberries and freesia, with a startling blood allure that had my whole family a little worried. We could smell it on Esme's clothes and even as just a ghost of the real scent it effected us all a little. Carlisle was worried about sending us to school, Rosalie was worried about having to move again, and I was worried that the family would step in before I got to meet this girl.

I told them about how set in stone my vision of her had been and that we had to meet her. If we didn't, horrible things could happen. Luckily, my family trusted me enough to concede and follow my decision to stick around and see what would happened with this Swan girl.

Jasper and Edward both stayed home that day. Just the smell lingering to Esme had them both black eyes with burning throats to matched. Neither wanted to have an accident and somehow offset the course we were on. I saw no problem with the two of them not being around, so I agreed with their choice. Better to keep the girl as safe as we could around seven hungry vampires.

Edward, also, had been slightly ashamed of how much the scent had effected him. He has been an animal drinker a lot longer then my Jasper has, so it was slightly embarrassing for him to be so affected. None of us blamed him, of course. He couldn't be blamed for who he was, though he did so to himself very often. Carlisle even suggested that Bella Swan could possibly be his singer, which would explain why it effected him so much. Edward had just shrugged, but I could tell that helped him calm down a little. The last thing he wanted to hear was that he was losing control.

So, when I went to school with Rosalie and Emmett I was practically bouncing in my seat in the back of their jeep. I was the only one of the family who was actually excited about this oddity that had stumbled into our lives. The others were perceiving her as some sort of threat or danger due to the fact that if we didn't meet her the future could end in our deaths, but I didn't think so. My vision hadn't felt like that. It just helped show how important she could be to our lives. I was ready to meet this girl.

When we pulled in, I scanned the parking lot. My fortified memory instantly spotted a new car in the parking lot. Well, not new as in a new car, but new as in new to the lot. Because it most definitely wasn't new. It was a red clunker of a truck, with a little rust around the edges. The thing looked like it could devour other cars for breakfast, but also had the slight chance of breaking down on you at the worst possible moment.

Internally, I was going over what car I would buy for her to replace that awful thing once we became friends. I decided to wait to completely decide once I knew her personality better, then I could by something that fit her perfectly.

As Rose, Emmett, and I gathered our things for class, we could all smell her. The scent was lingering softly throughout the parking lot, just beneath the smell of sweat and other teenagers. I could tell by the slight darkening of Rosalie's and Emmett's eyes that the could smell her too, and I hoped they would have enough restraint to last the rest of the day. Or, at least, until I met her. I was excited and ready, yes, but I didn't want to have to do this on my own.

Mostly because I didn't completely trust myself on my own, either. I was still a vampire, and this girl was the sweetest, most mouthwatering thing I'd ever smelled in all my years as a vampire.

_'I haven't had an accident in years,'_ I told myself firmly. _'You won't hurt her. She's going to be your best friend.'_

I could feel it, deep down. Though Rosalie and Esme were good female companions, I always wanted a best friend I could be close with. Something told me that this Bella girl could possibly be it. I didn't care about anything else. Maybe she and I would be polar opposites, I could care less. Something inside told me that she was the friend I had been looking for.

Going through my first three periods of the day were tough. I could smell her scent in several different halls in the school, but I hadn't caught even the smallest glimpse of her. She hadn't been in a single one of my classes and I haven't crossed her path once. The rest of the student body was chattering about her here and there. Guys were prattling on about getting in her pants, or about how disconnected she had seemed when one of them had approached. Several girls were either speaking about approaching her to offer friendship, and those who already had were nursing sore rejection when they had barely gotten anything out of her.

_'Sounds like Bella is a tough one to crack... At least she's smart enough not to fall prey to high school,'_ I mused to myself internally as I walked down the hall to my fourth period.

I could smell her again and knew she had been through here before. After constantly searching for her scent all morning, it was easier to pick it out among all the other teenagers.

Slightly put out, I entered my fourth period. One subtle sniff of the air told me that she didn't have this class, either. I tried not to make it look like I was pouting, but I couldn't help it. I had been excited all morning to see this girl and see if I could finally piece together why I was having a vision of her, but so far she had been accidently avoiding me.

_'She'll have to be in the lunch room,'_ I thought suddenly, and perked up. _'There's no way I would miss her there.'_

Rejuvenated, I spent most of the class drowning out the teacher and glancing at the clock. Time was a tricky thing for vampires. Some times it was much too slow, sometimes much too fast. One could spend twenty years and not realize it, but then one could be waiting for something and have it take much too long to come around.

The teacher called on my a couple times, seeing that I was extremely distracted. She was surprised to hear me answer her questions easily and correctly. Silly teacher. Vampires can focus on several things at once, so a human catching us off guard is very rare. Though, it helps that I've taken this subject several times before and never forgot it from the first time.

When the lunch bell rang, I was the first one out of that class. I tried hard to contain my pace, no matter how hard I wanted to run vampire speed through the school. I quickly put my things away in my locked and walked to the cafeteria building. Rosalie and Emmett were already sitting at our table, two trays of untouched food sitting in front of them. I didn't even bother to go through the line, I was too excited to even try to look like the disgusting human food was appealing.

I noticed from afar that Emmett seemed to be trying to console Rosalie, who looked a little more then pissed.

"Rose, babe, calm down. She's just a human girl," Emmett was saying as I sat down next to him.

"I don't care! Her smell is all over the place and everyone is talking about her. It's ridiculous. Why should we have to endure this? One of us could snap and kill her at any time and we would just have to leave then anyway!" Rose snarled, slapping his comforting hands away from her. She never liked to be touched when she was angry.

I turned to face her. "Rose, if you kill her you could kill us all. I don't know how she's fitting into our lives, but I know that she is important. If one of us does snap, the rest of us need to protect her."

"What is the reason you're seeing her is because she's a danger to us?" Rose countered. "Have you thought about that, Alice?"

"No, she's not," I said with a shake of my head. "I know she isn't."

Rose huffed, but seemed to lose her will to keep arguing. She and Emmett must've been having this conversation for quite a while for her to just quit like that. It usually took a lot more time to get her settled.

I began to scan the flow of teens coming into the cafeteria, looking for her face. The drawing I'd made of her two days ago was still fresh in my mind and I knew that I would recognize her the second I saw her.

It was taking a while for her to get to the cafeteria and I was becoming impatient, when I heard a small group of people outside the cafeteria talking.

_"Hey, here comes that new girl..."_

_"Did you here what she said to Jessica?"_

_"Yeah, basically told her to screw off."_

_"How rude, seriously. Doesn't she want to make any friends here?"_

The two gossiping girls continued to mutter rude things to each other, when the cafeteria doors opened and I saw her. She looked just like I had imagined her and drawn her, to be honest. She had the same, beautiful heart shaped face. Her skin was almost as pale as ours was, but it looked good on her. She had a nice, hourglass figure but not exaggeratedly so. Her hair was a dark brown that flowed in pretty waves. Her eyes were a chocolate brown and seemed to be avoiding eye contacts with a lot of people in the room, which I could see why considering she seemed to have brush off half of the school and had even turned down Fork's biggest teenage gossip.

As she looked around for a place to sit, her eyes met mine.

I didn't even have to look for the future, because the second our gazes connected I was assaulted with a barrage of visions.

* * *

_Jasper and I biting down into her soft flesh, not to kill, but to turn. She was crying out from the burn, and was looking at us with a question of why in her eyes. We each bit one of her wrists and one of her ankles. We left the neck alone, for it was a sacred spot for mates to bite. It was not our place to touch her there, I could feel it. She had a mate. He was coming, coming for her soon. I would be so sad to see her go, but knew that she would be happy. He would be good to her._

_Bella was a beautiful vampire. Even as a human she had been stunning. Vampirism suit her well. She was so well controlled. It was sad that she would have red eyes for the rest of her life..._

_Her mate was here. Bella had finished her change a year ago and was no longer a new born. Today was the day. He was coming for her, to make her his. We all knew they belonged together. We could smell it on her now that she was changed. They were meant to be. None of us wanted to see her leave, but deep down we all knew that she would always be part of our coven; our family. Maybe we could visit?_

_They took to each other instantly. The second they laid eyes on each other, they knew. And then the chase began. She sprinted off playfully, with him chasing after to win his prize. He had long, white-blonde hair. White-blonde hair, white-blonde hair..._

Who is he? There's a fog around him. I need to see!

_They came back from their marking, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Both his coven and mine were smiling at the new found mates. She was smiling so bright. I had never seen her so happy before, so not... broken. She gazed up at her mate with adoration. Her mate stared back down at her, smirking as he reached to tuck a stray piece of her hair behind her ear. Bella smiled at her mate's touch, nuzzling into his shoulder._

_Finally, the fog around his face cleared..._

_Caius Volturi._

* * *

"Oh my," I whispered,

The future slowly ebbed away from me, like a cloud floating away. Reality reformed around me, and I was back in the cafeteria staring at the mate of a ruler of the vampire world. She was staring back, looking confused. No one would have ever guessed. Hell, they probably wouldn't have found each other if we hadn't moved to Forks. It was so strange. A girl who moved to small town Forks, the mate of the ever fierce Caius Volturi.

"What did you see, Alice?" Rosalie asked, her eyes narrowed at Bella from across the cafeteria.

"We have to go," I said, standing up. "I need to talk to everyone. Now."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**Please, review!**


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